Psychology Spa in Palestine

10/03/21 • 26 min

Psychology and health care in Palestine

In this podcast episode I speak with Jumana Kaplanian about psychology in Palestine and the stigma about mental health that still exists in the Palestinian society. Jumana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Psychology from Bethlehem University in Bethlehem and an MSc in Psychology from Oxford Brookes University in Oxford.
Mental illness is considered one of the largest and least acknowledged health problems in Palestine. For decades the West Bank has suffered from political, social, and economic strife. Palestinians have been exposed to a series of traumatic events, such as imprisonment, torture, humiliation, human rights violations, house demolitions, land confiscation, restriction of movement, unemployment, and under-employment. As a result, many people suffer from various emotional and psychological traumas.

The importance of psychological treatment in Palestine

Mental health service providers in Palestine usually offer support, rehabilitation, and counseling services for people dealing with psychological problems. Mainly, these organizations focus on counseling and treating the disorders rather than arming people with the required knowledge to realize the importance of psychological needs to seek treatment. In most cases, these organizations are the ones who approach people to offer help. In many other cases, people ignore their psychological distress for an extended period and only seek help when they reach advanced disorder stages.

Awareness of mental health at Psychology Spa

Psychology Spa works to raise awareness of mental health, fight social stigma, and achieve social transformation regarding mental health.

Psychology Spa is the first specialized non-profit company in Psycho education in Palestine since 2016. Psychology spa is a place where groups meet to learn, discuss, share, and seek ways to gain psychological knowledge.
Website
https://www.psychologyspa.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/PsychologySpa
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Psychology and health care in Palestine

The importance of psychological treatment in Palestine

Awareness of mental health at Psychology Spa

Psychology Spa works to raise awareness of mental health, fight social stigma, and achieve social transformation regarding mental health.

Previous Episode

Palestinian Russian equestrian Diana Al Shaer

Diana Al Shaer has a Palestinian father and a Russian mother. Her grandfather was the first Palestinian ambassador in Russia and her father followed him in his footsteps. Diana grew up in Russia and by the age of 25 she started to become more and more connected to her Palestinian identity.
She is an international Grand Prix dressage rider and sports diplomat and she was asked by the Palestine Equestrian Federation to come out for Palestine in last summer's Olympic Games. Unfortunately her horse was injured and she could not participate, even though they had qualified originally. But she is keen to try again in 3 years and her horse is still young enough to be ready by that time!
Besides horse riding she is also the initiator of Pali-Rus Media, an initiative that wants to be a cultural media bridge between Russia and Palestine. Recently she produced a video with a beautiful synergy between Russian ballet and Palestinian dabka dance.
Diana also produces a podcast that is called Dialogue. Last week she published an episode in which she interviewed me, Kristel, about Stories from Palestine podcast. You can find her podcast episodes on her YouTube channel and she is working on getting all episodes uploaded on podcast players. Here are some links to connect with Diana on social media:
https://youtube.com/c/PaliRusMedia
Instagram Diana Al Shaher
Instagram PaliRusMedia
Click here to watch and hear the episode about Stories from Palestine podcast on Dialogue
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Next Episode

Guided visit to Jacob's well in Nablus and Sebastia archaeological site

New tour guides, who finished the tour guide program at the Bethlehem Bible College with me this summer, organized a day trip to Nablus and Sebastia. There were about 35 Palestinians on the bus that took off from Beit Sahour early in the morning. After 2,5 hours we reached the Jacob's well church in Nablus. This church is a very recent building that was built on the location where several churches were built around a water well that is said to be the well that Jacob dug on the land of Shechem. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham who came from Mesopotamia and is considered the founding father of all three monotheistic religions.
In this podcast episode you can learn more about the relevance of this water well also in the New Testament of the Bible when Jesus met a Samaritan woman at this well with whom he had a very important conversation about the location of the Temple. Samaritans believed that they should pray to God in the Temple on Mount Gerizim while the Jews prayed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus reveals to her his true nature and tells her that the time has come when the location of prayer is not relevant anymore. The woman goes to her village and tells everyone about Jesus. She is considered the first female evangelist.
After our visit to the Jacob's well church you can hear more about the archaeological site of Sebastia, a city that was established in the Roman time under emperor Vespasian. We visit the ruins of the forum and basilica, the theater and the Hellenistic tower. Up on the hill are the stairs that used to lead to the Temple for Augustus and behind it a big structure that is often indicated as an iron age palace for the Israelite kings Omri and Ahab, but some archaeologists date the site to later times. And the Byzantine church ruins are also interesting as they give access to a crypt where John the Baptist is said to have been buried, his body that is, after he was beheaded by Herod Antipas.
You can hear all about these historical sites in this podcast episodes. With thanks to Ibrahim Khair, Elias Khair, Nayif Gharib, Waffa Sabat and Saleem Anfous.
If you want to sign up for the mailinglist, connect on social media or contribute to the podcast you can use the following link: https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine